System and Method for Obtaining and Executing Instructions From a Private Network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for website and application monitoring and testing inside from a private network are presented. An agent module resident on an agent device inside the secured network periodically sends an HTTP message to a controller server and receives an HTTP response. The agent module parses out a set of instructions from the content of the HTTP response and executes the instructions. The agent module collects and compiles responsive information resulting from the instructions being executed and sends the compiled information to the controller server for storage and reporting.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the field of website andapplication performance monitoring and testing and more particularlyrelates to the field of website and application monitoring and testingfrom a private network.

2. Related Art

Conventional website or application performance monitoring and testingsolutions address the need for web enabled businesses to measure thespeed and reliability of their websites and applications as seen by aglobal audience accessing them over the internet. There are two types ofconventional solutions, namely conventional external and conventionalinternal solutions. Conventional external solutions lack the ability toaccess websites or applications which are resident on a customer'sinternal private network due to the fact that these internal privatenetworks are protected by a firewall or other security system. Inaddition, conventional external solutions can not monitor and test fromthe point of view of the private network to websites or applicationswhich are hosted outside the internal private network, for example viathe Internet.

Conventional internal solutions suffer from the same limitations astraditional delivered solutions and are additionally problematic becausethey require a large, complex software installation with trained anddedicated staff to maintain them. One cumbersome solution that has beensuggested to address these significant drawbacks of the conventionalsolutions is to provide a server inside the protected network. Thisrequires a considerable amount of time to set up, configure, andmaintain. This additionally requires the customer to spend a lot of timelearning how to operate the server, including its software and hardwarecomponents. This type of solution also requires direct access to theprivate network. There are no existing solutions that can externallymonitor a website or application that is located beyond a firewall orsecurity system in a private network. Therefore, the industry hasdefined a need for a system and method that overcomes these significantproblems found in the conventional systems as described above.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, systems and methods for executing instructions behind afirewall are described herein that allow for monitoring and testing ofwebsites or applications resident on private networks and further do notrequire complex proprietary solutions. A system for internal executionof instructions on a protected network is configured to install andexecute an agent module on one or more agent devices that are placedwithin the protected network. The agent module is deployed in a nativeenvironment emulator that allows the agent module to operate on avariety of agent devices running a variety of different operatingsystems. This allows different agent modules that are running ondifferent agent devices with different operating systems to execute thesame agent instructions in the same compiled or interpreted language.

When the agent is initially deployed it generates a unique identifierthat it sends to a controller server located outside the privatenetwork. The controller server maintains a set of instructions to beexecuted by the agent module. Periodically, the agent sends a message tothe controller server requesting instructions for execution. Inresponse, the agent receives instructions from the controller server.The instructions are downloaded as part of an Hyper Text TransferProtocol (“HTTP”) response in an inbound direction so that they may passthrough the firewall or other protections of the private network whereotherwise agents in a secure network can not otherwise be typicallycontacted. The instructions received by the agent can be interpretedcode, compiled code, pseudo code, script, operating system (“OS”)commands (including shell commands), or application programminginterface (“API”) commands.

Execution of the instructions cause the agent to monitor a websiteinside or outside the private network, monitor an application inside oroutside the private network, perform testing on a website or applicationinside or outside the private network, carry out administrativefunctions on the agent device, execute arbitrary instructions, etc. Forexample, upgrades and improvements to the agent module itself may alsobe made by sending the appropriate instructions and updates to the agentmodule. The results of the executed instructions by are recorded by theagent module and sent back to the controller server for storage andreporting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The details of the present invention, both as to its structure andoperation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying drawings,in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example systemfor executing instructions on a private network according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example systemfor executing instructions multiple private networks according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example agent module accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a high level flow diagram illustrating an example process forexecuting instructions on private network according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a detailed flow diagram illustrating an example process forexecuting instructions on a private network according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for identifyinga non-responsive agent module according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system asmay be used in connection with various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide for systems and methodsto monitor and test websites and applications located in a privatenetwork but controlled by processes (programs) running outside theprivate network. For example, one method as disclosed herein allows fora controller server to cause monitoring or testing agents on variousagent devices deployed in private networks to execute a set ofmonitoring or testing instructions. The agents send an HTTP request tothe controller server. In response, the controller server sendsinstructions embedded in the responsive content. The agent parses theresponsive content to obtain the instructions and then executes theinstructions and collects the results, which are then provided to thecontroller server.

After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled inthe art how to implement the invention in various alternativeembodiments and alternative applications. However, although variousembodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it isunderstood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only,and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of variousalternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope orbreadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Furthermore, as used herein, the terms monitoring and testing maycomprise any sort of communications with a target device and alsoinclude active or passive gathering of information from a target device.Some examples of monitoring and testing include gathering statusinformation, load testing, functionality testing, application testing,regression testing, or the like. Additionally, the term “interrogating”may also be used to mean all types of monitoring or testing that may beused.

FIG. 1 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example systemfor executing instructions on a private network according to anembodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, thesystem 100 comprises a controller server 10 with an associated datastorage area 15, the internet 12, a firewall 14, private network 16, anagent device 20 with an associated agent module 22 and associated datastorage area 25, a customer 36 with an associated data storage area, awebsite 34 with associated data storage area, and an application 32 withassociated data storage area. In one embodiment, the website 34 andapplication 32 may run on a single server 30. The system 100additionally includes an external network 40 that includes one or moreapplications 42 and one or more websites 44, each of which may also beconfigured with a data storage area (not shown) and which may similarlybe run on a single server (not shown).

In one embodiment, there can be multiple agent modules 22 in each agentdevice 20. There can further be multiple agent devices 20 in eachprivate network 16. Each agent device is provided with a data storagearea such as the illustrated data storage area 25. Each of the variousagent devices 20 can be any sort of computing device that is capable ofcarrying out instructions and communicating over a network.

The controller server 10 maintains a set of instructions for each agentmodule 22. For example, one agent module may be tasked with monitoringan internal website while a second agent module in the same privatenetwork may be tasked with monitoring an internal application.Accordingly, one or more agent modules may be employed to carry outmonitoring of websites 34 and applications 32 inside or outside privatenetwork 16. The instructions can include scripts, OS commands, compiledinstructions, or references to executable scripts or programs alreadystored on the agent device 20.

In one embodiment, the controller server 10 responds to the request bythe agent module 22 by sending the instructions as Extensible MarkupLanguage (“XML”) content through the Internet 12, through the firewall14 and into the private network 16 where the agent device 20 is located.The instructions are able to pass through the firewall 14 or otherprotective barrier because they are communicated over the HTTP protocolin a inbound direction. In alternative embodiments, the instructions canbe delivered in formats other than XML.

The agent module 22 parses XML content to obtain the instructions fromthe server 10 and executes the instructions to carry out monitoring ortesting of the website 34 or application 32. In one embodiment theapplication 32 can be part of a website 34 and resident on the sameserver 30. Alternatively, there can be multiple applications 32 andwebsites 34 on one server 30. The separate applications 32 and websites34 can also be on separate servers. In one embodiment the instructionsprovided from the server 10 can be interpreted instructions, OS commandsor compiled instructions. Advantageously, the instructions can beexecuted inside the private network 16 to monitor or test websites orapplications that are resident inside or outside the native environmentprovided by the agent module 22. In one embodiment, testing of websitescan include load testing, functionality testing, regression testing, orthe like.

The private network 16 may be any of a variety of private or publicnetworks. The private network 16 may be a packet switched network or acircuit switched network. The private network 16 may be a personal areanetwork (“PAN”), local area network (“LAN”) or a wide area network(“WAN”) and may be implemented over a wired or wireless physical networkmedium, it may also be any combination of networks. The private network16 may also be a voice network or a data network or a combination o thetwo.

The agent module 22 sends a request to the controller server 10. In oneembodiment, the request is advantageously sent as an HTTP POST, whichprovides a free form structure to the request and is unlikely to bequarantined or otherwise restricted by the security efforts implementedto protect private network 16. This is the request made by the agentmodule to the controller server asking what to do (i.e. whatinstructions to execute). An example post is as follows:

POST <http://www.webmetrics.com/results.cgi>

Content-Length: 540

Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Agentname=AGENT_ONE&password=secretpassword&xml=<xml>&action=results

In response to its request, the agent module 22 receives a series ofinstructions from the controller server 10 and executes thoseinstructions. The results of the execution of those instructions arethen collected by the agent module 22 and provided to the controllerserver. In one embodiment the agent module provides the results of theexecution via an HTTP post. For example, the HTTP post may use amultipart/form-data content type. This type of post can have a varietyof formatting types and can advantageously include binary data for morethan one key/value form data elements.

In one embodiment, an agent module 22 is wrapped in a native environmentemulator. This emulator allows the agent module 22 to executeinstructions on any type of agent device 20 running on any type ofoperating system. In one embodiment the operating system of the agentdevice 20 may be Windows, Linux or DOS. The agent module 22 is installedin the agent device 20 and the emulator runs in the native operatingsystem of the agent device 20. Accordingly, the instructions sent by theserver 10 can be, for example, executable instructions under Linux andthe emulator is advantageously configured to execute instructions underLinux regardless of the native operating system of the agent device 20.For example, the instructions from the server 10 can be Linux Perlscript instructions and the native operating system of the agent device20 is a Windows operating system. The emulator allows the Linux Perlinstructions to execute on the agent device 20.

In one embodiment multiple agent modules 22 can be deployed on theprivate network 16. Once an agent module 22 is deployed it selfgenerates an identifier. The agent module 22 sends its identifier to thecontroller server 10. Each agent module 22 in the system has its ownunique identifier which is tracked by the controller server 10 and usedto facilitate operations.

The customer 36 may view certain reports regarding the monitoring orother tasks performed by the various agent modules 22. The customeraccesses this information at the controller server 10, as the controllerserver has compiled all the results received from an agent module 22over time. For example, the results of instructions executed by an agentmodule are sent to the controller server 10 where they are stored andcompiled in to reports. A customer 36 may connect to the controllerserver 10 (or some related server with access to the reporting data) andview the reports of the monitoring and testing performed by the agentmodules 22. The agent module 22 may also be used to monitor one or moreexternally hosted websites 44 or applications 42 that are hosted on anetwork 40 that is accessible via the Internet 12.

In one embodiment, a service provider who operates network 40 andprovides an application 42 or website 44 to its customer 36 via theInternet 12 may have the customer 36 deploy the agent module 22 on theprivate network 16 in order to monitor the quality of service levelprovided by the operator of network 40 and its respective applications42 or websites 44. Advantageously, this provides the operator of network40 with a customer-centric view to the quality of service being providedand also facilitates an understanding of the location of any problemsassociated with the use of the applications 42 or websites 44experienced within the private network 16.

In one embodiment an example implementation includes a large companywith 1000 sales representatives, 800 of which are located in thecorporate headquarters office and 200 who are remote salesrepresentatives and located in major cities around the globe. In FIG. 1,the company is represented by customer 36. The company uses a remotelyhosted software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) customer relationship management(“CRM”) solution such as the popular SalesForce.com service. This typeof hosted SaaS CRM service is not installed on computers at the companyheadquarters but is instead installed on service provider (e.g.,SalesForce.com) computers and is accessed by the company via theInternet 12. In FIG. 1, the service provider is the operator of thenetwork 40.

In our example, the company spends roughly one million dollars per yearon the hosted SaaS CRM service, and therefore the company is keenlyinterested in how the CRM service performs at the company headquarters(i.e., for its 800 sales representatives in the corporate office). Thecompany is also very interested in how the CRM service performs fromremote locations around the globe via the Internet (i.e., for its 200sales representatives outside the corporate office).

Advantageously, the company can install the agent module 22 in thecorporate office location and configure the agent module 22 toperiodically monitor and test the quality of the connection to the SaaSCRM service and certain metrics of the user experience with the SaaS CRMservice which is accessed via the Internet 12. If the quality of theconnection is determined to be low or the user experience determined tobe unsatisfactory, the agent module 22 is configured to send an alert tothe controller server 10. The controller server 10 advantageouslycorrelates the alert from agent module 22 with all other alerts and datathat has been gathered from around the globe (not just the location ofthe company corporate office) to determine if the low quality connectionor unsatisfactory user experience with the network 40 is an isolatedissue at the company headquarters or a more widespread issue with theSaaS CRM service. Advantageously, data from all aspects of the SaaS CRMservice provided by the operator of network 40 can be correlated withall other data about any of the services provided by the operator ofnetwork 40. Thus, the correlation and determination is not just based oninformation related to the SaaS CRM service used by the company.

FIG. 2 is a high level network diagram illustrating an example systemfor executing instructions inside or outside of multiple privatenetworks according to an embodiment of the present invention. In theillustrated embodiment, the system comprises a plurality of privatenetworks including 17, 18, and 19. Each private network may bephysically situated in a different geographic location and beowned/operated by different entities. In one embodiment, the controllerserver 10 monitors a significant number of private networks via theinternet 12, each of which may contain multiple agent devices and agentmodules.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example agent module 22according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the agent module 22 comprises an application monitor module700, a website monitor module 705, and an administration module 710. Theagent module 22 also has access to a data storage area 25. The agentmodule 22 acts as a controller for the application monitor module 700,website monitor module 705, and the administrator module 710. In oneembodiment there may be multiple website monitor modules 700 andmultiple application monitor modules 705 which monitor a number ofapplications and websites within the private network. For example, theapplication monitor module 700 processes instructions to monitorapplications which are running on or outside the private network.Similarly, the website monitor module 705 processes instructions tomonitor websites which are running on the private network. In oneembodiment the website monitor module 705 executes a script of useractions that simulate a website testing or monitoring sequence.

The administrator module 710 generates a unique identifier upon initialexecution and sends the identifier to the controller server. Theadministration module 710 receives either compiled instructions,scripts, OS commands, or the like from the controller server. In oneembodiment the scripts can be OS scripts or interpreted scripts. Theadministration module 710 executes the scripts or compiled instructions.

FIG. 4 is a high level flow diagram illustrating an example process forexecuting instructions on a private network according to an embodimentof the present invention. This process may be implemented by acontroller server in a system such as that previously described withrespect to FIG. 1. At step 300 the controller server receives a requestfrom an agent module. For example, multiple agent modules may bedeployed in various cities around the world such as London, Paris, andNew York. Each agent module is resident on an agent device within aprivate network. In one embodiment, the request from an agent modulecomprises a unique identifier for the particular agent module so thatthe controller server can determine what set of instructions to send tothe agent module in response to the request.

At step 305 the request from the agent module is parsed to obtain theunique identifier of the agent module. Once the unique identifier forthe agent module is known, the controller server uses the identifier tolook up the appropriate instructions for that agent module. For example,one agent module may receive instructions for monitoring a website whileanother agent module may receive instructions for testing anapplication, while a third agent module may receive instructions toupdate the application monitor module.

The instructions obtained by the controller server for the agent modulecan be compiled instructions (e.g., an executable program) or scriptcommands to be interpreted and thereby executed at the agent module. Atstep 310 the set of instructions is sent to the agent module.Advantageously, the instructions are sent as part of an response to therequest from the agent module.

At step 315 responsive information is received from the agent module.For example, the instructions sent to the agent module may cause theagent module to perform monitoring of a website and the resultsgenerated by that monitoring are collected by the agent module andreturned to the controller server. This collected information that iscompiled by the agent module as a result of executing the instructionssent at step 310 are what is received by the controller server in step315. Advantageously, this information can be maintained and stored atthe controller server so that it may be compiled with similarinformation and presented to a customer by way of an interactive reportdelivered via a browser interface, for example.

FIG. 5 is a detailed flow diagram illustrating an example process forexecuting instructions on a private network according to an embodimentof the present invention. This process may be implemented by an agentmodule in a system such as that previously described with respect toFIG. 1. Initially, an agent module monitors for the arrival of atimeslot in which it is preconfigured to send a message to thecontroller server. When the timeslot arrives, as determined in step 400,the agent module sends a message to the controller server in step 405,the message comprising a unique identifier for the agent module andrequesting instructions from the controller server.

The controller server receives the request and obtains a set ofinstructions for the particular agent module associated with the uniqueidentifier and provides those instructions in response to the request.Next, at step 410 the agent module receives the instructions from thecontroller server. In one embodiment, the instructions are interpretedscript commands that are provided as content in the response from thecontroller server.

At step 415 the agent module parses out the instructions from thecontent and then executes the instructions. In response to the executionof the instructions, the agent module may receive certain data and otherinformation related to the execution of the instructions. This data andother information is compiled by the agent module in step 420 and thensent to the controller server in step 425. Advantageously, thecontroller server may maintain this responsive information in a datastorage area and compile reports and other presentations based on theresponsive information in combination with other responsive informationfrom the same agent module or from multiple agent modules.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for identifyinga non-responsive agent module according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. This process may be implemented by a controller server in asystem such as that previously described with respect to FIG. 1. In theillustrated process, the controller server monitors the various agentmodules that have received instructions from the controller server. Inone implementation, this ensures that the monitored or tracked web sitesand applications are up and running within a defined threshold.Initially, in step 600 a set of instructions is sent to an agent module.At step 605 the system determines whether a response has been receivedfrom the agent module. If a successful response is received, asdetermined in step 605, the process proceeds to step 610 where it ends,although the process begins anew each time the controller server sends aset of instructions to an agent module.

If an error response is received from the agent module, as determined instep 605, the process proceeds to step 615 where a strike count isincremented. The strike count is maintained to keep track of how manyerror responses have been received from a particular agent module for aspecific target. Advantageously, the number of strikes that will elicita failure to respond error message can be a configurable parameter thatis set by the customer. At step 620 the strike count is compared to thestrike value, which is the configurable parameter set by anadministrator. If the strike count is equal to the strike value, thenthe predetermined number of error responses has been met. If thepredetermined number of error responses has been met, a failure torespond error message is sent as shown in step 625. If the strike countis less than the strike value, as determined in step 620, then thethreshold number of error responses has not been reached and the processproceeds back to step 600 where the set of instructions are resent bythe controller server to an agent module. The process continues until asuccessful response is received or a failure to respond error message issent.

Advantageously, in one embodiment this process allows the overall systemto operate under a software as a service model and provide the majorityof the functionality in the system at a centralized server while thevarious agent modules that are deployed in the field can be utilitarianand executable on a variety of device platforms.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system 550that may be used in connection with the various embodiments describedherein. For example, the computer system 550 may be used in conjunctionwith a firewall, a controller server, or an agent device as previouslydescribed with respect to FIG. 1. However, other computer systems and/orarchitectures may be used, as will be clear to those skilled in the art.

The computer system 550 preferably includes one or more processors, suchas processor 552. Additional processors may be provided, such as anauxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor toperform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purposemicroprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution ofsignal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slaveprocessor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-endprocessor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual ormultiple processor systems, or a coprocessor. Such auxiliary processorsmay be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 552.

The processor 552 is preferably connected to a communication bus 554.The communication bus 554 may include a data channel for facilitatinginformation transfer between storage and other peripheral components ofthe computer system 550. The communication bus 554 further may provide aset of signals used for communication with the processor 552, includinga data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown). The communicationbus 554 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture suchas, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standardarchitecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”),Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect(“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.

Computer system 550 preferably includes a main memory 556 and may alsoinclude a secondary memory 558. The main memory 556 provides storage ofinstructions and data for programs executing on the processor 552. Themain memory 556 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamicrandom access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory(“SRAM”). Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example,synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamicrandom access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory(“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).

The secondary memory 558 may optionally include a hard disk drive 560and/or a removable storage drive 562, for example a floppy disk drive, amagnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatiledisc (“DVD”) drive, etc. The removable storage drive 562 reads fromand/or writes to a removable storage medium 564 in a well-known manner.Removable storage medium 564 may be, for example, a floppy disk,magnetic tape, CD, DVD, etc.

The removable storage medium 564 is preferably a computer readablemedium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software)and/or data. The computer software or data stored on the removablestorage medium 564 is read into the computer system 550 as electricalcommunication signals 578.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 558 may include othersimilar means for allowing computer programs or other data orinstructions to be loaded into the computer system 550. Such means mayinclude, for example, an external storage medium 572 and an interface570. Examples of external storage medium 572 may include an externalhard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and externalmagneto-optical drive.

Other examples of secondary memory 558 may include semiconductor-basedmemory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-onlymemory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar toEEPROM). Also included are any other removable storage units 572 andinterfaces 570, which allow software and data to be transferred from theremovable storage unit 572 to the computer system 550.

Computer system 550 may also include a communication interface 574. Thecommunication interface 574 allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system 550 and external devices (e.g. printers),networks, or information sources. For example, computer software orexecutable code may be transferred to computer system 550 from a networkserver via communication interface 574. Examples of communicationinterface 574 include a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), acommunications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, andan IEEE 1394 fire-wire, just to name a few.

Communication interface 574 preferably implements industry promulgatedprotocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel,digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line(“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrateddigital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services(“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”),serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), andso on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interfaceprotocols as well.

Software and data transferred via communication interface 574 aregenerally in the form of electrical communication signals 578. Thesesignals 578 are preferably provided to communication interface 574 via acommunication channel 576. Communication channel 576 carries signals 578and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wirelesscommunication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventionalphone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radiofrequency (RF) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.

Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is storedin the main memory 556 and/or the secondary memory 558. Computerprograms can also be received via communication interface 574 and storedin the main memory 556 and/or the secondary memory 558. Such computerprograms, when executed, enable the computer system 550 to perform thevarious functions of the present invention as previously described.

In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used torefer to any media used to provide computer executable code (e.g.,software and computer programs) to the computer system 550. Examples ofthese media include main memory 556, secondary memory 558 (includinghard disk drive 560, removable storage medium 564, and external storagemedium 572), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled withcommunication interface 574 (including a network information server orother network device). These computer readable mediums are means forproviding executable code, programming instructions, and software to thecomputer system 550.

In an embodiment that is implemented using software, the software may bestored on a computer readable medium and loaded into computer system 550by way of removable storage drive 562, interface 570, or communicationinterface 574. In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into thecomputer system 550 in the form of electrical communication signals 578.The software, when executed by the processor 552, preferably causes theprocessor 552 to perform the inventive features and functions previouslydescribed herein.

Various embodiments may also be implemented primarily in hardware using,for example, components such as application specific integrated circuits(“ASICs”), or field programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”). Implementationof a hardware state machine capable of performing the functionsdescribed herein will also be apparent to those skilled in the relevantart. Various embodiments may also be implemented using a combination ofboth hardware and software.

Furthermore, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and method stepsdescribed in connection with the above described figures and theembodiments disclosed herein can often be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearlyillustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, variousillustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have beendescribed above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether suchfunctionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon theparticular application and design constraints imposed on the overallsystem. Skilled persons can implement the described functionality invarying ways for each particular application, but such implementationdecisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from thescope of the invention. In addition, the grouping of functions within amodule, block, circuit or step is for ease of description. Specificfunctions or steps can be moved from one module, block or circuit toanother without departing from the invention.

Moreover, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and methodsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (“DSP”), an ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logicdevice, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components,or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions describedherein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor can be any processor, controller,microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implementedas a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of aDSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

Additionally, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory,flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, harddisk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage mediumincluding a network storage medium. An exemplary storage medium can becoupled to the processor such the processor can read information from,and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, thestorage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and thestorage medium can also reside in an ASIC.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Variousmodifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can beapplied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the description anddrawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention and are therefore representative of the subject matterwhich is broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is furtherunderstood that the scope of the present invention fully encompassesother embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the artand that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited bynothing other than the appended claims.

1. A system for interrogating a target server hosting a website or anapplication, the target server accessible for data communication via oneor more data communication networks, comprising: an agent deviceconnected to a private network, the agent device having a data storagearea and a processor; an agent module stored in the data storage area ofthe agent device, the agent module configured to be executed by theprocessor on the agent device; a controller server communicativelycoupled with said agent module via an external network and the privatenetwork, wherein communications between the controller server and theagent module pass through a security system of said private network, thecontroller server configured to receive monitoring messages from saidagent module; a target server communicatively coupled with said agentmodule via one or more data communication networks, wherein the agentmodule is configured to send a message to the controller server, themessage comprising a unique identifier for the agent module, the agentmodule further configured to receive a responsive message from thecontroller server, parse the responsive message to obtain a sequence ofinstructions, and execute the sequence of instructions to interrogatethe target server.
 2. The system of claim 1, comprising a plurality ofagent modules deployed in the private network.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the target website comprises an application.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the message sent to the controller server is a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message.
 5. The system of claim 4, whereinthe HTTP message is a GET message.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theresponsive message is an HTTP message.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe sequence of instructions comprises interpreted instructions.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions comprisesoperating system commands.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein thesequence of instructions comprises compiled instructions.
 10. The systemof claim 1, wherein the agent module is configured to dynamicallygenerate a unique agent module identifier and provide the agent moduleidentifier to the controller server.
 11. The system of claim 1, whereinthe message from the agent module to the controller server comprises theunique agent module identifier.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein theone or more data communication networks communicatively coupling thetarget server with the agent module consists of the private network. 12.The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more data communicationnetworks communicatively coupling the target server with the agentmodule comprises the private network and the external network.
 12. Acomputer implemented method for interrogating a target server hosting awebsite or an application, the target server accessible for datacommunication via one or more data communication networks, comprising:receiving a request from an agent module, the agent module locatedwithin a private network and communicatively coupled with a controllerserver via the private network and an external network, the requestcomprising an identifier that uniquely identifies the agent module;obtaining an instruction set for the agent module, the instruction setcomprising executable commands; providing the instruction set to theagent module via the external network and the private network; andreceiving information from the agent in response to the agent'sexecution of the executable commands in said instruction set.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein periodic requests are received from theagent module.
 14. The method of claim 13, herein the periodic requestsare received approximately every minute.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein a failure is identified if an instruction set is sent to theagent module a predetermined number of times without receivinginformation from the agent indicating success.
 16. The method of claim12, further comprising comparing the information received from the agentto information received from one or more other agents, wherein each ofthe other agents is located outside of the private network.
 17. Acomputer implemented method for interrogating a target server hosting awebsite or an application, the target server accessible for datacommunication via a private network, comprising: providing an agentmodule installed on an agent device located on the private network, theagent module configured to send and receive communications with acontroller server located outside of the private network; sending ahyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) message from the agent module to thecontroller server, the request comprising a unique identifier for theagent module; receiving at the agent module an HTTP response from theexternal server, the HTTP response comprising a set of instructions in acontent portion of the HTTP response; parsing the HTTP response at theagent module to obtain the set of instructions, the set of instructionscomprising target server interrogation instructions; executing thetarget server interrogation instructions by the agent module; andsending responsive target server interrogation information from theagent module to the controller server.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the HTTP message from the agent module to the controller serveris an HTTP POST message.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the set ofinstructions comprises interpreted instructions.
 20. The method of claim17, wherein the set of instructions comprises compiled instructions. 21.The method of claim 17, wherein the target server interrogationinstructions carry out monitoring of a website.
 22. The method of claim17, wherein the target server interrogation instructions carry outmonitoring of an application.
 23. The method of claim 17, wherein thetarget server interrogation instructions carry out testing of a website.24. The method of claim 17, wherein the target server interrogationinstructions carry out testing of an application.